"The art of losing isn't hard to master."

A poem by Elizabeth Bishop

“One Art”
—by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Learn more about Elizabeth Bishop here.

Author’s Note: I watched the movie In Her Shoes recently with Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz—they play sisters Rose and Maggie. Diaz recites the above poem, and it’s just so so so good that I wanted to share it! Enjoy!

Photo by 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash